Last Day of School

I haven't updated in a month...typical. We got into a good school routine in the latter part of April. It wasn't always easy but the boys pushed through and did well. I think we all liked having a routine and knowing what to expect every day. Under the surface though my anxiety was increasing with each day. I felt trapped, lonely, and still in disbelief. It's slowly getting better through prayer, self-help books, and podcasts. 

Yesterday was the official last day of school. I can't believe we have rising 7th, 5th, and 2nd graders! I don't know how the boys are growing up so quickly. Camden is proud of his first year in middle school, especially under the quarantine circumstances. He should be! He accepted responsibility for himself and his school work, both pre- and during the pandemic. He has enjoyed learning and takes school seriously. He's happy. His 6th grade year went so much better than I ever expected due in part to the amazing teachers he had who poured into him. Hudson has grown and shown his responsibility this year too. He came home every day and did homework without (too much) coaxing. He knew exactly what work he had to do at all times. He's smart and capable and I can't wait to see how he shines again next year. Rowan is our little mature man. He started in the GT program this year and just blows me away with everything his little brain can remember. He even knows things about other kids, like knowing which items belong to which kids that the teacher couldn't place. He loves learning, is an excellent reader, and is independent. We are so proud of all three of them! 

Now that it's summer break we are having to regroup and figure out our days again. This morning has been a whatever-you-want sort of morning filled with IPads and playtime. This afternoon we will go pick up Hudson and Rowan's school items. I was sad thinking about that last week but I think it's going to be so quick that I won't have time to feel anything. We picked up Camden's things on Monday and I didn't feel anything. Hudson is a little sad to be growing up (he'll be 10 next week!) and Rowan feels both proud and sad that 1st grade is over. I always get a little sad at the end of the school year but I think I felt all those feelings last week already. 

Things have started to open back up. Some things. I took them to Dollar Tree on Tuesday, just to get out and pick out some things for summer. Today I think I'm going to take them to Target for some groceries and birthday items. Of course we will wear face masks, only I will touch things, etc. I'm sure I'm not "supposed" to be taking them but they are going crazy staying home. We have done a lot of hiking on weekends, parks with trails during the week, have gotten ice cream, and played outside in our yard. We even went to our Blue Ridge cabin the first weekend in May. But these boys need some normalcy. I need some normalcy. So off to Target we go! With lots of hand sanitizer...

Back at it

Spring break came and went. It was uneventful, but relaxing. Over the weekend we went hiking, had an Easter egg hunt, watched church on TV, made breakfast, and spent family time together. One very positive thing to come from all of this is the amount of extra family time we have had. Mike has been in the office all week but has been coming home early. I will miss that when things get back to normal. Our school district changed from assigning work every day to only assigning work Monday-Thursday, using Friday as a catch up and extension day. It seems like the amount of daily work assigned as decreased as well. Rowan seems like he's getting burnt out, Camden is being hard on himself, and Hudson seems over it. I hope that it's just that this is the first week back after break. I'm excited for no school on Fridays, hoping that it gives me time to get the house clean and do fun extension learning and projects. I started out this whole distance learning thing by planning project time every day but after the first week or two I couldn't keep up the pace. I'm already washing and putting away more dishes than normal and cleaning up more in general; I couldn't keep up with having to set up and clean up projects on top of that. They are happy though - right now they are playing with paper airplanes as a break before lunch. Speaking of lunch...I kind of want to load everyone in the car just to get out and get Chick Fil A for lunch. Thank goodness for drive through. We will see........

Things I am Grateful For:
Beautiful weather
Being able to get outside to run and walk
The friendship my boys have with each other
Enough food to eat

A Spring Break Like No Other

Today is the first day of spring break for the boys. We didn't have plans to go anywhere but I was going to let the boys pick fun things to do. Maybe a painting class, parks, ice cream, you know, all things we aren't allowed to do right now. Except ice cream. We can and should still do that. I think I'm starting to go a little stir crazy in the house. We are so lucky that we have a backyard and hiking trails behind our house. Maybe tomorrow we should go hiking. We have done distance learning for 3 weeks now and have gotten in a routine. I think I'm feeling so off today because we don't have a routine this week and nothing to do outside of our house and yard. I made a goal list for both the kids and I with things we need to and want to accomplish this week. I've knocked a lot of things off my to-do list today in the way of cleaning. They sound like they are having a great time in the basement right now so I'm not going to disturb them by suggesting something else to do. I think tomorrow my goal will be to get them off IPads and doing something creative. It's also supposed to rain so a movie day would be nice. I hear that April will be the worst month and that the cases are supposed to peak within a week or two. They're suggesting that everyone stay home and not even go to the grocery store. I have a grocery delivery coming tomorrow evening but the milk Mike bought yesterday is sour and chunky, which means that if we want milk for the morning one of us is going to need to go out and get more. It's not even worth returning but what a pain! Anyway, I'm not feeling profound right now but wanted to get my thoughts written because it helps me process. At the end of every entry I'm going to write things I'm grateful for so I don't get in a pattern of negativity.

I'm grateful for...
My family
Beautiful spring weather
That Mike is still working and has a paycheck coming in, unlike so many people right now
Grocery delivery

So I Never Forget

This was not written by me.

Just so I never forget..... April 2, 2020

-Gas prices were $1.54
-School cancelled - yes cancelled
-Self-distancing measures on the rise.
-Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
-Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.
-Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.
-Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.
-Entire sports seasons cancelled. Like NBA, MLB, ALL sports!
-Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
-Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled. Funerals limited to a specific number and being live streamed.
-No masses, churches are all closed. During Easter season.
-No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more, and even this is encouraged to be limited to immediate family.
-Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.
-Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
-We are to distance from each other. Six feet!
-Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
-Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
-Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.
-Shelves are bare. Hard to find beef, eggs, milk. Sending one family member to shop.
-Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
-Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.
-Fines are established for breaking the rules.
-Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
-Big industries help make more ventilators, & more masks for hospitals.
-Press conferences daily from the President and the governess. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
-Government incentives to stay home.
-Barely anyone on the roads.
-People wearing masks and gloves outside.
-Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
-Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this status?

One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that LIFE IS PRECIOUS and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.... hugs, social interaction - like the real kind verses the Zoom kind, sitting in a restaurant, or in a coffee shop with a friend or family, Sunday church, Friday night family night!

Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

We are all one! ❤️ stop the division and the blaming. Seek the good! Be the good! Love well (on Zoom, or in person when we can gather together again).

Thursday...Rowan's Birthday!

Rowan is 7 today!!! I don't know how that is even possible. He's his own person, smart, independent, and sometimes intense. We went overboard with decorating and celebrating since he can't be at school with his friends or have a party. We weren't going to have an actual party anyway, but we were going to go do something fun with his best friend. Instead, he woke up to balloons taped to his door, birthday messages on our driveway in sidewalk chalk from our wonderful babysitter, PRESENTS, and cinnamon rolls. I am attempting to make him a galaxy themed cake for Star Wars since he is obsessed these days. He requested hamburgers for dinner and what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets! The boys also wanted hair chalk in their hair today so he's been walking around with spiky green hair (Camden has red and Hudson has blue). We are trying to have fun in these crazy times. I, on the other hand, am still in my pajamas and it's lunchtime. 😛

Week 3...Wednesday

Well, it happened. The Governor closed schools for the rest of the school year. He also is issuing a shelter-in-place order until April 13, which to me isn't a big deal because that is what we are already doing. Mike is considered essential so he is still going to work some but is working from home some too. He's at work tonight but is in the field so isn't too close to other people. I got all nervous again tonight because another person in my April '13 mom's group most likely has COVID-19. The only place she has been in the past few weeks is the grocery store, so really, you can get it from anywhere! I watched a video though where a doctor said the biggest prevention is washing your hands a lot and not touching your face. I think I touched my face at least 50 times while watching the video. HA! It helps me to have information and a plan in case Mike or I got it. My friend who has it has two kids who have fevers but they aren't bothered. She said she has been getting fevers and has a cough, but it's not awful yet. I think we would just isolate in our bedroom and wear a mask when we are around the rest of the family. It would suck, but it would be okay. I'm surviving on coffee, being informed, and funny memes.

Week 3...Tuesday

I heard this morning that the state of Virginia put a shelter in place/social distancing order in effect until June 10!!!! That is so long from now. I think its pretty drastic, but I'm also not the expert. We will just stay in our bubble and carry on. Mike went to work yesterday but is being careful. His office building is closed so they are sticking to the field. The boys haven't been anywhere except walks in the neighborhood and hiking the trails behind our house. I have been trying to stay in besides the occasional grocery store trip. I have been trying to keep those to a minimum. Today I went to Dollar Tree to get some stuff for Rowan's birthday. I was a little nervous to go and almost wore a mask, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was no one else there and that the employees were all wearing masks and gloves. I still brought my wipe to wipe down the cart and things I bought. We are all going to have such clean hands after all of this.

School is going okay. Last week the teachers changed up some of the learning platforms and ways to turn in assignments, so we started over with trying to figure that out. Yesterday the boys were picking on each other, trying to stir up trouble. They also had a ton of energy and had a hard time focusing. I was snippy with them and they were snippy with each other. Today they got along better but two of them were whiny this morning anytime they weren't sure how to do something. I think they just want to do everything correctly and know everything right away. Mike was home all day today so that was nice. We have been watching Last Man on Earth at night. Maybe not the best choice during a viral pandemic, but its a funny show and is a good distraction from the news. The news is pretty grim. All case counts and death tolls, but I did hear that Italy's cases are slowing so I know there is hope for us sooner rather than later even though we have yet to reach our peak.

Beginning of a New Normal

It's been two and a half weeks since life in America changed for the foreseeable future. In January we had heard of a new virus over in China but didn't think much of it as it seemed so far away. In the weeks that followed cases started popping up in the United States then spreading around the country. The first case in our county was detected the week of March 9. Our county school district announced on Thursday, March 12 that it would be closing schools starting the following Monday...indefinitely. I substitute taught in a third grade classroom on Friday, March 13 (Friday, the 13...full moon...the week after daylight savings time ended...and now coronavirus?). There was a buzz in the air as the students and teachers processed the news. The teachers worked tirelessly to plan for the new "Digital Learning Plan" as they weren't going to be allowed back into the building after Friday evening. On Friday afternoon, teachers cautiously hugged their students (because, germs) and sent them on their way with the promise that they would send work to them and see them hopefully soon.

Week 1 of Digital Learning...

The teachers sent work, and we started work. With kids in 6th, 4th, and 1st grades I was busy helping them get logged in, finding the correct websites, and keeping calm through all the change. The first week went well. I created a homeschool schedule and planned STEM activities for each day. After two days I realized that there was no way I was going to keep up with the pace of daily projects and eased up a little. They got a little more free time and a little more IPad time. Things were going okay, but for me there was an underlying sadness that they weren't at school with their friends. 

Week 2...

I felt even sadder, especially after Rowan said "I hope school isn't cancelled for the rest of the year. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye." Cue the tears. I could tell the novelty of the situation wore off slightly, especially toward the end of the week. The boys were tired and felt like they had a lot of work to do. However, we all sat around the dining room table trying to learn and complete assignments. I feel very lucky that although I'm temporarily out of a job (no school=no subs needed) that I am available to focus on the boys all day. It's tiring with no alone time, but I am enjoying spending more time with them. Luckily this week it wasn't raining as much so we were able to enjoy the outdoors more. Mike is still working, but worked from home some and came home earlier some. We've had some good family time! 

We are trying to stay positive. I can't look too far ahead because I feel like this is never going to end. Trump now says that we have to "social distance" until April 30, but I think it will be longer than that. I'm taking it one day at a time.